3 Sneaky Ways To Convert Casual Readers To Loyal Readers

by Jane Sheeba| Join Jane on Google+

develop relationship with blog readers

Driving traffic to your blog and making those people to read your content is one side of the story. That is a BIG side of the story, indeed!

Traffic generation is one of the all-time challenging tasks to any blogger/internet marketer – just like losing weight lol.

Anyway, even if you manage to drive traffic (I mean lots of traffic) to your website/blog, it is not an easy thing to retain that traffic.

You not only need new visitors for your blog, but repeat visitors or loyal visitors.

Both new visitors and loyal visitors are equally important.

And if you manage to convert every new visitor into a loyal visitor (and hence a potential lead and then a customer) how would you feel?

In my honest opinion, one of the most vital keys to building a successful business through your blog is to convert every new visitor to a loyal visitor by building real relationship [Click to tweet this!].

I will share 3 simple yet sneaky things I do on my blog that are well received by my blog readers. I get a lot of appreciation mails each day by the new visitors about the ways I use to connect with them.

Everyone seems to like it. And I’m being constantly asked what plugin/code I use to do those.

So instead of writing repeated emails, I thought that I could put up a post so that I can refer my readers to this post when asked about the same.

Moreover, it is not a secret. I want all bloggers to make use of the methods I’m using.

Redirect first time commenters to a “Thank You” page

I have a “Thank You for commenting” page. Whenever someone comments on my blog for the very first time, I redirect those first time commenters to that page.

You can take a look at that page here - http://www.probloggingsuccess.com/thank-you-for-commenting/

As you can see, there are a few factors in that page that need to be noticed.

(i) First of all I thank the first time commenters, and appreciate them for not being a silent reader. Honestly, that’s a great thing indeed. Not everyone who visits my blog leaves a comment!

(ii) Second, I highlight the perk they get from commenting on my blog – I highlight that I use premium commentluv plugin on my blog and that they get do-follow keyword-anchored backlinks.

(iii) I invite them to join my mailing list so that I can stay in touch with them even after they leave my blog.

(iv) I then softly introduce three things – (a) the page where I list all the internet marketing tools I use (many readers of my blog repeatedly ask me about this) (b) my ebooks and (c) my free e-course.

(v) I then provide links to popular blog posts so that they can do some more useful reading before they leave.

I use the Comment Redirect plugin by Yoast to redirect first time commenters to the above mentioned “Thank You” page.

Send a “Thank You” email for first time commenters

Whenever someone comments on my blog for the very first time, I send them an automated email, thanking them.

Of course, I won’t be able to do this manually when each time a new commenter stops by and leaves a comment on my blog.

Two plugins I know are having this little cool feature available. (i) Maxblogpress Subscribers Magnet and (ii) Immediate List Building Pro.

I prefer using Immediate List Building Pro since it bundles many cool features into one!

Read my detailed review of Immediate List Building Pro here.

Whatever plugin you use, make sure you keep your email short and to the point.

At the same time don’t forget to extend an invitation to join your email list. Here’s how my email to first time commenters look:

Subject: I appreciate your comment

Body:

Hi {Commentator’s name},

I thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and posting a comment. I genuinely appreciate comments like yours on my blog and I hope you will stick with me :)

If you liked my content and want to read more, I highly recommend you to subscribe to my newsletter. Not just that, you will get 2 free ebooks to help you start your journey as a Problogger. Visit the following link to subscribe:

http://www.probloggingsuccess.com/free-ebook-time-management/

Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you around the blogosphere.

Take care!

Jane Sheeba

http://www.probloggingsuccess.com

This little email gives me another chance to connect with my blog’s visitors/commenters even after they leave my blog.

But I don’t do it annoyingly – I don’t contact them more than once and I don’t write pages of email!

Interact in social media

First things first. Interaction in social media doesn’t mean posting your blog’s links!

By interaction, I mean REAL interaction. Of course, you cannot be spending a big chunk of your time on interacting with people on social media, since we all know that social media is a big distraction and a time killer.

However, we must also face the fact that social media is one of the top places where your crowd gathers. So you ought to be there.

While it is true that you should login to your social sites to post your blog’s links, you may not expect “conversions” or think about building REAL relationship with your readers/followers if you merely post links (I mean your own links).

I find it great when I participate in informal conversations in social media. To me, Facebook works great. For you, it could be something else.

But the point is: Building relationships.

You could do it in various ways - participate in informal and off-marketing discussions, share funny/entertaining stuff, participate in discussions where people are seeking solutions to a problem (if you could help), find out whoever is liking and sharing your stuff and give them some love back and so on.

The possibilities are actually endless.

By being a casual person (and not merely an internet marketer who dies to promote his/her blog), I get attention quite easily.

When I share my blog’s links, they are well received!

But make no mistake. I don’t “pretend” to be a casual person and this is not a marketing tactic. I am like that and fortunately that works for my business as well.

Takeaway

Here you go - 3 cool ways to connect with your readers. These 3 ways are my favorites and they always work!

And, as you can see the first two tips are actual “set up once and forget” kinda stuff, which is very cool. You don’t have to put in a lot of energy to keep up.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t just read this post and leave. Take action and see the results for yourself.

I’d appreciate if you could do a bit of social sharing if you liked this post (I’m sure you liked it ;) ). Thank you.

Let’s talk in the comments.

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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }

Simmeon

Hey Jane,

Until very recently, after people left a comment I would redirect them to my opt-In, now I’m surprised many more bloggers are not doing this. The amount of subscribers were increasing all the time.

Now you’d want to restrict this to new commenters, as it can enjoy returning visitors. I find communicating with people on Facebook to work quite well.
Simmeon recently posted..Warning: Blogging Like This Will Make You CryMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

Simmeon, you’re right. Facebook is a great place to build relationship!

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Prakash

Yes its really works when we redirect the commentators to the thank you page. It increases the no. of subscriber as well as loyal traffic.
Prakash recently posted..Ek Tha Tiger Full Movie Watch Online 2012 | Download freeMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

Indeed Prakash. And if we leave links to important posts on that page, you can also reduce your blog’s bounce rate.

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Charles

Hi Jane

Thanks for the post… I’ll give thiss a try and let you know how it works :)

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Jane Sheeba

Sure Charles give it a try and let me know.

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Nizam

Thanking first time commenters by landing them on “thank you for commenting” page after posting comment is really a good strategy. Thanks Jane for this useful post and for the link to comment redirect plugin.
Nizam recently posted..Internet Marketing Tips For Success In Your Online BusinessMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

My pleasure Nizam.

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Ehsan from BlueHost Review

Hey Jane,

I like your idea of using “Thanks for commenting” page and redirecting the first time commentators to that page, I was doing it but now I removed that page because in my opinion It’s useless. It’s useless because if someone read your post and made a mind that he will share the post by social sharing buttons you’re using after leaving a comment.

But when they left a comment and redirected to “Thanks for commenting” page. They aren’t going back to share that post because they don’t have time and they have to visit other blogs also.

Sending “Thank You” email to first time commentators is also good, but only to first time commentators not to those who leaves comment to your post daily because It will annoy them if they received that email every time they leave comment on your blog.

BTW, Thanks for the useful post.

Ehsan U.
Ehsan recently posted..BlueHost Review - 10 Reasons To Choose BlueHost ServiceMy Profile

Reply

Jane Sheeba

Ehsan I get your point. But not all visitors share the post after leaving a comment. For instance, I personally share the post first and then leave a comment; I understand that this won’t be the case with all the readers.

Nevertheless, by redirecting your readers to a thank you page, you can also provide them with links to pillar posts. This means, they will not read and share 1 post of yours but will have the opportunity to read (and probably share many post of yours).

And above all, you have a brilliant chance of getting them on your list - with which you can stay connected with them for a very long time. In my opinion, if I think “reading and sharing one post and leave” vs “reading many posts and getting on your list” - the latter is much better :)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Ehsan from BlueHost Review

Yeah, I agree with you Jane but as you said, Not all visitors share the post before leaving a comment, I always share a post after leaving a comment, but now I think I need to change my habit :P

That is great if you provide them with links to pillar posts and give them option to subscribe to your blog to stay connected other than only thanking them for their comment.

You must be agree with what I said about sending Thanks you email?
Ehsan recently posted..Build Online Stores In Minutes Using IzzoNetMy Profile

Reply

Jane Sheeba

Yes Ehsan, sending a thank you email for the first time visitors is good. Not for every comment! that will be really annoying and turn people off.

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northierthanthou

Interesting set of suggestions. I’m not doing any of these right now. Might have to look into getting them going soon.

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Jane Sheeba

Yup don’t miss out Nothier :)

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hira

hi jane
this is the amazing tips to increase the traffic and comments. i think i should buy Immediate List Building Pro plugin for my little blog. thank for sharing this great post.
hira recently posted..Skin Problem Spots Due To Sun DamageMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

Hira, yes Immediate list building pro is a worthy investment to make.

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Saad Naeem from seoallrounder

Social media has helped me a lot in building relation with other bloggers than the search engines ones , so I must say thank you to social media because 2 months back I had not a single blogger in my freinds list and now I have over 500 friends.
Saad Naeem recently posted..What is Writer’s Block & How To Overcome It!My Profile

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Jane Sheeba

Saad - agreed! Social media is one of the most powerful places to find people and connect to!

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Mike Howg

This is a great article. I will probably add the thank you page for first time commenters. It seems like such a smart idea.
Mike Howg recently posted..Shorten Google Plus URLMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

It is indeed Mike! Thanks for stopping by :)

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Sanjeev | Makewebworld

Thank you page really works, it adds some appreciation for the first time commenter along with promoting right set of tools. I have not tried the email stuff till now, will check the plugins later on…
Sanjeev | Makewebworld recently posted..Elegant Themes ShortCode Plugin - Easy way to build Visual Effects for Your PostMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

Try the email tip Sanjeev, it works great.

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Gary from ProBloggingTips

Social Media is a big one for me, and should be for everyone. That is a chance to really connect with people and build relationships as you said. If you are not doing this, then you are really missing out. This is also a great way to butter people up for guests posts and things in the future as well.
Gary recently posted..High PR Forums ListMy Profile

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Jane Sheeba

That’s right Gary, this techniques opens up gates for developing extended relationships like guest blogging.

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erwin from garmin forerunner

I am very happy to get new insights every time I visit your blog. I also love it if I have many loyal readers, so I’ll try the suggestions that you shared
erwin recently posted..Heart Rate Monitor ReviewsMy Profile

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Cordell from idaho real estate

Hey Jane this blog is pretty great! Nothing was an outstanding new idea- but all just, “oh, yeah thats right” It’s great that you’re able to point out tips w/o any drastic changes needing to be made. Thanks!
Cordell recently posted..Financial Considerations When Home BuyingMy Profile

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Craig

Good point, also about the value of highly targeted traffic. As an example, If I’m in the auto repair business, I’d rather have a list of 100 people with car trouble than a list of 1,000 people who own cars.
Craig recently posted..Doesn’t ANYBODY Play Guitar?My Profile

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Craig

or, as a dub step musician, a list of 200 people who love dub step is way better than a list of 10,000 people who sometimes listen to music..
Craig recently posted..Getting Started with Home Studio RecordingMy Profile

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Theodore.N

Hi Jane, I realy love what i just read, Its a no brainier. l’m going to try all the things your recommended right away.

Thanks for sharing.
Theodore.N recently posted..Effective Internet Marketing Plan: 6 Points to Ponder Towards SuccessMy Profile

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Ubaid

But there are many people who just click your site, and leave a comment and just go away, they don’t even bother what is written in the title ?
Ubaid recently posted..Good News for the Housing MarketMy Profile

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Becca

I have learned so much by reading your blog. It always amazes me how much there is to learn. For a newbie like me having a resource like you is a God send.

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Erik Emanuelli from Make Money Blogging

Very interesting tips, Jane.
I already have a redirecting page when someone comments in my blog.
But I do not send a “thank you” email.
Don’t you this is too obsessive?
I do agree, that interacting in social media is very important!
Erik Emanuelli recently posted..5 Tips to Improve Your Blog Signed by Quentin TarantinoMy Profile

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Anne

These are great tips to remember Jane. Another way to do this is to create a quick video to thank your first time visitors after commenting on your posts. This will be another way to give a personalized approach in getting their attention and connecting with them.

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richa from wordpress support

Great post, Jane. Retaining traffic is indeed more important than just getting traffic. I love the tips that you have shared in the post. A thank you mail surely has an effect. Social media is a great platform to create and maintain relationships and i completely agree with you that being a casual person surely can help get easy attention.

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Adeline Yuboco from Life and Leisure

Thanks for the suggestions here, Jane. I’ve started with the Thank You email first for those that have visited and left a comment on my blog for the first time. Now, it’s just a matter of seeing how that will pan out for my blog.
Adeline Yuboco recently posted..Hail to the Kadayawan: King of All Festivals in MindanaoMy Profile

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Mark Brook

This is great post for getting pure and better traffic on your blog and you can spreed your massage to every one in the world but one thing which I need to know that should we send an email to those persons who give some comments not according to the subjects.
Mark Brook recently posted..What is Space Dreamz Incense?My Profile

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Azam from silpada

Hello Jane
For good blogging it very necessary warmly welcome to first commentator to make him the part of the community.

Jane you have written the core concepts of blogging in this post.
Azam recently posted..Silpada Designs National ConferencesMy Profile

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Mohammad

Hey,

Very comprehensive post!This post will help me convert readers into regular readers of my blog.

Thanks,
Mohammad

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Dan Parrington

Thank you for writing this warm, down to earth article. Tips like these are not only useful to the blogger, but add to the whole online experience for a reader. Your kind of attitude makes the internet better for us all.

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Aayna from seo marketing

Loyal readers are one of the foremost prerequisite for a successful blog. Redirecting commentors to a thank you page is one of the most gratified way to extend a thank you note. I myself appreciated those blogs which lands me to a thank you page. The commentor feels nice that way and gets a boost to comment again in future, if he happens to read the blog. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips Jane.

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